Among hockey-players, it is common practice to make use of disposable adhesive athletic tape in order to secure protective leg pads against shifting of the equipment during play. Typically, the player applies a length of disposable adhesive athletic tape over the equipment to secure it to the leg. The amount of tape used for this purpose varies from player to player, but it is typical for players to use approximately half a roll of tape, wrapping it over the equipment and around the leg in two places: just below the knee and also, either just above, or just below the top of the skate.
Older products intended for this purpose are very inefficient in actual use; they require buckles, button snaps or VELCRO pads to keep themselves in place. Furthermore, these older products are manufactured from various types of elastic, or elasticized cloth-like material, such materials do not perform well because lengths of material exceeding one leg-circumference cannot be wrapped around the leg without impairing blood circulation to the legs and feet. Neither elasticized cloth, nor other materials intended for securing equipment onto a leg can simply be tossed into a player's equipment bag between uses because they absorb moisture and therefore require airing out between uses as well as periodic washing. Only vinyl is sufficiently rigid that it does not become entangled with equipment or form into knots that require disentangling, as do straps manufactured from cloth-like materials. These factors account for the fact that very few players use older products of this type--they simply do not perform as efficiently as disposable adhesive tape, use of which continues to be the method preferred by players to secure protective equipment to the leg.
The instant invention simulates all the essential properties of disposable tape in that it can be applied in a manner identical to that with which disposable tape is applied by the player. Specifically, vinyl is virtually inelastic, this facilitates its mechanical functioning, and accounts for its similarity in "feel" to disposable tape. Furthermore, the electrostatic, intra-molecular, self-adhesive property of vinyl makes unnecessary the use of any adhesive or mechanical fastening device. Similarly, once the loose end of the strap is smoothed against the underlying layer of the material, it adheres to itself and will not become unraveled--similar in principle to vinyl shower curtains that stick together.
The primary value of the product to players is economic as disposable tape is relatively expensive to use over the course of a full season. The instant invention is designed to allow players to purchase strips in pre-cut lengths, or to cut shorter, customized-length strips.